


On a Winter's Night

by DNoctiluca



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Holtzbert Secret Santa, Including a corny Frozen reference, Snowed In, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, With every winter trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 19:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13301340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DNoctiluca/pseuds/DNoctiluca
Summary: Erin and Holtzmann are snowed in at the firehouse. The fluffiest of fluff about their budding romance!





	On a Winter's Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maralovesurd](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=maralovesurd).



> A Holtzbert Secret Santa gift for maralovesurd! It's late and I'm sorry. I really hope you like it!

Snow pelted sideways in fat clumps, thick and fast enough to obscure the view across the street. Now and then a car crept through the hazy whiteness, smudging dark tracks that were rapidly erased.

“It’s coming down so fast. And the roads are a mess.” Erin’s forehead touched the chill glass of the window. A lacy network of frost crystals clung to the other side. 

“It looks like lightspeed in the Millennium Falcon.” Holtzmann stood at her side, just close enough for the backs of their hands to touch. 

“It's pretty,” Erin conceded. “But I don't think I'm going to make it home.” 

Holtzmann reached up to sling an arm around her shoulders. “That's not so bad. I'm here.” 

Erin backed away from the cold and brushed her nose against the frayed halo of Holtz’s hair, crisp and smelling of welding flux. It was a quality that she had come to associate with uncalculated risk and undisciplined attraction. Every time they got this close, the room grew brighter and dizzying as if a thousand tiny, frenetic twinkling lights had been switched on. 

“No, that's not bad at all.” 

They had been dancing around it for weeks, the inescapable gravitational bond pulling them together. Outings to pick up coffee from the shop down the street became lingering walks around the neighborhood as they argued about acceptable levels of radiation exposure and flirted playfully. They carried on this way for weeks before Erin grew impatient and impulsively invited Holtz out to dinner. 

The first hesitant snow of the year fell that evening as they shared calamari and pasta at Paesano's in Little Italy. When they left the restaurant and walked through Columbus Park, the grass underfoot and the bare branches overhead were dusted with fine, shimmering powder. Erin kissed her at the end of the evening as they stood outside the doors of the firehouse, and Holtz blushed so deeply that it was visible even under the sodium-yellow flicker of the street lamp. 

Holtzmann in turn took Erin to a Chinese-Jewish deli, ushering her with foreign and unexpected formality to a worn vinyl booth and insisting that she try the pastrami egg rolls. 

There was a light freezing rain pricking their faces and marbled sheets of ice sheathing the sidewalk later that night, so they took a cab to Erin’s apartment building. Erin waited expectantly as they stood on the stoop before they parted, and Holtz finally leaned in to kiss her cheek, lingering there hesitantly before meeting Erin's lips. Erin cupped the sharp precious chin in both mittened hands and held her mouth in one long, slow kiss until they were both short of breath. 

In the days that followed, there was a quiet tension as they skated around the complications of a workplace romance. The awareness that this could be a reckless mistake hung in the air, affecting everyone in the building. Today Patty had left early to avoid the coming blizzard and Abby was on vacation in the Poconos for a toboggan competition. Erin and Holtzmann were left to navigate new territory for the first time, alone in the firehouse after-hours. 

Erin cleared her throat and they drifted apart. “Well. I'm going to go downstairs and finish the write-up on Tuesday’s bust.” 

“‘K. I'll be here,” Holtzmann answered. She pressed her palms flat on her work bench, swaying slowly, grinning when Erin glanced back over her shoulder as she left the lab. 

*** 

“Erin?” 

There was a thump as Erin startled and her knee hit the underside of her desk. 

“Hey! Oh my gosh. I was totally sucked into this report. Um. What time is it?” 

“Seven. It stopped snowing.” Holtzmann sidled closer into Erin's space and sat on the edge of the desk. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet and serious. 

“Erin. Do you...” she paused, slowly removing her goggles. 

Erin’s hopes reached out to meet the questions in Holtz, anticipation as deep as the snow drift outside the window. 

“Do you want to... go up on the roof and play in the snow?” 

Erin let go of her held breath and laughed as equilibrium returned. ”Yeah. Yeah, let's go.” 

Bundled in their coveralls and overcoats, they waded in slow-motion through knee-deep snow. It was quiet, unnaturally so for the city. The wind had died down and the sky was patchy with clouds, an artificial aurora of city lights fading out all but the brightest stars. 

Holtzmann dived and grabbed a double armful of snow and tossed it into the air. It sparkled as it fell over them both, clinging to their hair and scarves. She began gathering snow in earnest, rolling one lopsided sphere then another and heaving it on top with Erin’s help. 

Her quick fingers sculpted and poked the apex of the snowy tower, shaping peculiar features. She flashed a smile at Erin as she worked and she began to sing. 

“ _Do you wanna build a snowman?_ \- Hey, Erin!- _Do you wanna build a ghostman?_ ” 

Her voice was pure and high, clear as a glass bell. She stopped when she saw the look on Erin's face, an unfamiliar vulnerability caught between them. 

“Wow. You have a beautiful voice.” 

Holtzmann made a moue of self-reproach and ducked her head behind the snowman. Erin followed her. 

“And- Holtz, you like Disney movies?” 

“Everyone likes Disney, Er.” She circled away again and peered from behind the snow that was piled as tall as she was. 

Erin inspected the snowman’s inhuman face. 

“It's the T3 vapor that we caught this week,” Holtz crowed. 

Erin nodded and reached for her hand. “Well done.” 

She pulled Holtz into her arms and squeezed tightly. When she spoke, her voice was muffled by the shoulder of her coat. 

“Holtz?” 

“What, baby?” 

“I’m _freezing_. Let’s go inside.” 

“Oh thank god, me too. Let’s go.” 

*** 

There was a bottle of bourbon in the kitchenette cupboard that no one would admit to putting there, and everyone pretended not to know it was half-hidden behind a box of instant oatmeal. They used it to spike their mugs of hot cocoa before settling into the homey lounge on the third floor. There was a Christmas tree that Patty had selected, taking care to find one that was just right, artificial but convincingly realistic, without glitter or fake snow. They had all spent an afternoon together decorating it the week before, and now it twinkled brightly in the dark room. 

They cuddled together on the couch and kissed gently until Erin abruptly turned her face away and yawned. 

“Sorry. Tired,” she said with a sleepy smile. 

“I’m so sorry I’m boring you,” Holtz joked. She sank low into the cushions and opened her arms. “Come ’ere. Let’s sleep.” 

*** 

Erin’s eyes opened just a sliver. Frigid white daylight filtered through the rimy windows, illuminating the two women curled on the couch and the coffee table cluttered with empty mugs and plates and books. She stretched carefully and groaned as her joints popped. 

“Rough night?” Holtz’s said behind her, putting her hand on Ein’s right shoulder and massaging it. 

“Mm. Not the most comfortable sleeping arrangement,” Erin admitted. 

“I would have suggested we sleep in my bed, but I didn’t know if…” Holtz trailed off and removed her hand from Erin’s back. 

Erin turned to face her and brushed a frizzy lock of blonde hair off her forehead. 

“I wouldn’t have turned you down. But this was kind of sweet, too. Falling asleep by the Christmas tree with you.” She drew little circles on Holtz’s palm with her thumb and their cheeks turned pink as they looked at each other. 

A creak and a whoosh at the window startled them as a small avalanche of snow slid off the roof and fell to the ground. 

Erin hopped off the couch and trotted to the window with Holtzmann following close behind. 

“The city looks so gorgeous like this. Like it's trying to make up for all the ugliness the rest of the year,” Erin sighed. 

“Erin Gilbert, I didn't know you were a romantic softy.” Holtz leaned into her and nuzzled the back of her neck, drawing out a contented hum from her throat. 

“I think we’ll have the whole place to ourselves today. The roads won’t be cleared up for a while.” Erin said. 

Holtzmann perked up. “I could use the drill press in the lab without Abby shouting about the noise.” 

“You could. Or we could relax and take the day off. Spend the day together.” 

“Snow day?” 

“Snow day,” Erin agreed, and she turned and threw her arms around Holtzmann and kissed her as a gust of wind blew a heavy curtain of snow past the window outside.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't even know I could write this level of fluff!  
> I'm on tumblr if you want to say hi.


End file.
